One of my co-workers wants to get into 3d printing… He wants to purchase a fully assembled unit that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg… 300-600$ range he wants approx 7" cube build volume (180mm³) located in the USA any suggestions would be welcomed
The Monoprice maker select i3 for around $300. It’s a few screws to put together - comes mostly assembled. It’s got it’s niggles like the control board terminals melting and the bed not flat, but it will print out of the box…
Just yesterday, Maker’s Muse had relevant video… https://youtu.be/VZn-5leg_q0
I could always give it a cohesion brain transplant for him if the board fails…He was looking at a di Vinci the other day at work and was about to pull the trigger till I told him that unit runs on proprietary filiment
Is there any reason he wouldn’t go for the Prusa i3 MK2? It’s $700; but it’s really quite possibly the best value out there, and you are supporting one of the true innovators in the scene.
Yeah, I put a Mini board in mine right away. I made sure all the terminals are properly rated for the heatbed current and all that other fun stuff. It opens up the door for the better smoothie motion and for using a BLTouch probe which seems to be one of the more popular upgrades.
@ThantiK I will see if he can swing that in his budget… Agreed that the opensource hero’s are what I have tried to push him too bit alas he is reluctant
It’s the fact that it’s a kit that he isn’t keen on… He wants an out of the box solution
Ahhh, I was thinking that was the like half-assembled kit for some reason. Didn’t realize the assembled one was $900.
I am going to see if he can go with a slightly smaller build volume and go for the @Printrbot simple metal original
Maker’s Muse just did a great video on sub $350 printers, the tronxy x1 and the Cetus look like great options https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=-M8jOWfbmbk
But as others have stated the Prusa i3 Mark 2 is probably the best just outside your range. With the multi-material upgrade it’s just awesome. I have a an Ultimaker Original and a Griffin Delta and I’m pretty happy, but multi-material is definitely a huge advantage. Good luck.
You can source parts and build this one for about $650, works great but requires some skill: http://griffin-3d.myshopify.com/collections/3d-printers
Over 400 mm build volume.
Don’t get Printbot they suck, terrible print quality, subpar components
Another great source https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=BCGPCyIIYyE Make magazines annual review is one of the best investments you can make in choosing a printer as well $14 can save you hundreds in poor printer choice. IMHO Printerbot it was only an option for cost 2-3 yrs ago, there are so many decent sub $500 printer options now the $600+ assembled ($400+ kit) price seems ridiculous now.
With Prusa you’re getting a E3D hotend, superior auto-leveling, Rambo Board, etc. at an incredible price
$200 Prusa clone https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=H4OYrFvy1WE
The cell robox. Definitely. It is the most userfriendly printer in the market with very good support in the US. No hassle, just print
@James_Nelson The Printrbot Simple Metal is my first and only 3D printer so far, but I agree with you. I would steer people away from Printrbot if not for any other reason than poor customer service. I paid more for a fully assembled Printrbot Simple because I just wanted it to be ready to go out of the box; however, I opened it to find that the Y-arm was bend and the hot end had been smashed in to the print bed. I would blame it on insufficient packaging material.
At any rate, when I contacted customer service, I requested a new Y-arm and bed. They were hesitant to send either until I took close-up photos of the bed, and it was first suggested that I bend the Y-arm back into place if I were comfortable doing that. Sure, I could have, but the thing is, I paid for a full assembled and calibrated product. Instead, I had to disassemble and reassemble some of it and then re-calibrate it anyway.
They did send another Y-arm and another square of Kapton tape for the bed but not a replacement bed. After reviewing my close-up photos of where the hot end had scraped across the print bed, the rep said he didn’t think the aluminum was gouged. And while it may have the tiniest scratch in the metal, the point is that none of that should have been a concern of mine in the first place. So, the printer my brother had gotten for me for Christmas couldn’t be used for another month. It was a bummer for me, and of course my brother was pissed about the hassle with customer service after spending $800 on the thing. Ultimately, it left a bad taste in my mouth about the whole consumer 3D printer industry, and it took me several more weeks after I repaired it to really dig in and start printing and having fun with it.
@Jake_Smith print a better priter! Printerbot are fine if you going to invest printing a better printer, worth the money, but you can save money simply by buying a little more or less up front. You can print a better printer with a tronxy or Cetus for $200 but not have to.
If he’s your coworker, build it for him, he’s going to ask you how to use it a ton anyway. 
You’ll spend more on filament in a few months (maybe years) any way. Depending how much you print.